Key takeaways
- College waitlists are lists of students who would have been accepted but the college doesn’t have enough spots for them just yet.
- If enough admitted students decline the college’s offer, some waitlisted individuals may receive acceptance letters.
- You could potentially improve your chances of admission by writing an interest letter and highlighting new accomplishments.
If you’re waitlisted, the college isn’t accepting or rejecting your application – they’re asking you to wait to see if a spot opens up for you. If one does, you might receive an acceptance letter. In this guide, we cover what a waitlist is, why colleges use them, and the steps you need to take to increase your admission chances.
What is a waitlist in college?
A waitlist in college is a list of students who qualify for admissions, but the school doesn’t have enough spots for them. These individuals will receive acceptance letters if enough accepted students decline their offers of admission.
If you’re waitlisted, you have the option of accepting or declining the offer. If you accept, you likely won’t hear back until after May 1, depending on the school and how far you are down the waitlist. In fact, you might not know if you’re accepted until August, just weeks before classes start.
Why do colleges use waitlists?
Just like students apply to multiple schools as backups, colleges use waitlists as a backup. They have a number of seats they have to fill each year for the incoming class. Thanks to yield rates, colleges typically know how many students will accept offers of admission each year. However, if those numbers are off and more students decline to attend than expected, the schools can then pull from the waitlist to hit their target.
Here’s a rough example: a school has 500 seats available for its incoming class, but it received 600 qualified applicants. It sends 525 students acceptance letters, expecting at least 25 to decline to attend, and puts the remaining 75 students on a waitlist. If 40 students decline to attend, the college may send acceptance letters to at least 15 of the 75 waitlisted individuals.
Waitlisted vs. deferred
“Waitlisted” and “deferred” aren’t interchangeable terms. Early action and early decisions students may be deferred, meaning their application will be reassessed with the regular application pool. Deferred students typically know about acceptance by April, well before the May 1 decision deadline.
Waitlisted students don’t have their application reassessed and may not hear a decision from the college until well into the summer.
What are your chances of getting accepted off the waitlist?
Unfortunately, there is no surefire way to determine your acceptance chances once you’re waitlisted. Colleges often waitlist thousands of students and only accept a very small percentage.
You might be able to estimate the probability if the college posts the percentage of waitlisted accepted students on their Common Data Set, but schools can accept a hundred students off the list one year and none the next.
A few factors that can influence your chances of acceptance include:
- How many spots are available: If more spots open up, your chances of an acceptance letter go up.
- Your major: If the school has already admitted a lot of students from your intended major, you may be less likely to be accepted.
- Your location: Some colleges prefer students from a certain locale. However, like your major, if the school has already sent acceptance letters to too many students from your area, your chances may go down.
- The strength of your application: If you have a stronger application than another student who was waitlisted, you typically have a higher chance of getting in. Some schools rank waitlisted students by various factors, moving down the rankings as the waitlisted individuals accept or decline admission offers.
- Demonstrated interest: Students who demonstrated more interest in attending the college may be more likely to be taken off the waitlist.
6 things to do after being waitlisted
If you’ve received a letter letting you know you’ve been waitlisted, there are a few tasks you need to complete and a few things you can do to potentially improve your chances of an acceptance letter.
- Read the letter for instructions. Your waitlist notification came with information describing what being waitlisted means, what steps you need to take next, and important deadlines. You won’t be automatically added to the list – you need to officially confirm (or decline) your spot.
- Review your options. Before you make a decision, consider all of your options. Do you want to attend this school? Have you received acceptance letters from your backups? What are your chances of acceptance? How many students were accepted off the school’s waitlists in the past? Talk it over with trusted family and friends, discussing the pros and cons of each college and of waiting longer for an answer.
- Notify schools of your intention. Let the college know whether you’d like to be added to the waitlist. If you’re accepting the waitlist spot and choosing a backup school, you’ll need to submit a nonrefundable deposit to your backup to secure your seat, likely before May 1.
If you decide to join the waitlist, you should also:
- Write a letter. Your interest in a college can influence waitlist decisions. For some schools, you can continue to show interest by writing a letter to the admissions department or regional admissions dean outlining why you want to attend the school, highlighting that you will enroll if a spot opens up. Visit your college’s website to learn more about how they handle these letters.
- Send accomplishment updates. If you have any major accomplishments recently or over the next few months that weren’t included in your original application, make sure to notify the college. These can include massively improved grades, awards, and higher SAT/ACT scores.
- Wait for a decision. You likely won’t hear back until after May 1, and you may not be notified of the final decision until August. Keep on top of any communication and tasks from your waitlist school and your backup college. If you end up getting into your waitlist school, let your backup know you won’t be attending.
Receiving a waitlist letter isn’t fun, especially if it’s from your dream school. If you do receive one, however, you need to act quickly to secure your spot and create a backup plan. If you don’t get in, you can always try to transfer with a stronger application next year!
Understanding your admission chances could potentially help you avoid getting waitlisted. College Match pairs you with schools that meet your interests while highlighting your odds of receiving an admissions letter. Get started right here!
